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Buying food on sale: a mixed methods study with shoppers at an urban supermarket, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2010-2012
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Buying food on sale: a mixed methods study with shoppers at an urban supermarket, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2010-2012

Etienne J Phipps, Shiriki K Kumanyika, Shana D Stites, S Brook Singletary, Clarissa Cooblall and Katherine Isselmann DiSantis
Preventing chronic disease, v 11(9), pp E151-E151
04 Sep 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140174
PMID: 25188276
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140174View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze),  Open

Abstract

Adult African Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data Beverages Commerce - methods Commerce - statistics & numerical data European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data Female Focus Groups Food Supply - economics Food Supply - standards Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data Humans Income - statistics & numerical data Logistic Models Male Marital Status Middle Aged Obesity - epidemiology Philadelphia Public Assistance - statistics & numerical data Sweetening Agents Urban Health - economics
The obesity epidemic has drawn attention to food marketing practices that may increase the likelihood of caloric overconsumption and weight gain. We explored the associations of discounted prices on supermarket purchases of selected high-calorie foods (HCF) and more healthful, low-calorie foods (LCF) by a demographic group at high risk of obesity. Our mixed methods design used electronic supermarket purchase data from 82 low-income (primarily African American female) shoppers for households with children and qualitative data from focus groups with demographically similar shoppers. In analyses of 6,493 food purchase transactions over 65 weeks, the odds of buying foods on sale versus at full price were higher for grain-based snacks, sweet snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages (odds ratios: 6.6, 5.9, and 2.6, respectively; all P < .001) but not for savory snacks. The odds of buying foods on sale versus full price were not higher for any of any of the LCF (P ≥ .07). Without controlling for quantities purchased, we found that spending increased as percentage saved from the full price increased for all HCF and for fruits and vegetables (P ≤ .002). Focus group participants emphasized the lure of sale items and took advantage of sales to stock up. Strategies that shift supermarket sales promotions from price reductions for HCF to price reductions for LCF might help prevent obesity by decreasing purchases of HCF.

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14 citations in Web of Science
17 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Web of Science research areas
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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